Salespeople sitting idle?
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Bekah
Salespeople sitting idle?
I realize that this is a time in the manufactured housing industry that we have some idle plants, but we do not need idle salespeople. We have some fabulous salespeople in the industry, what suggestion do you have for motivating our dealerships from a manufacture rep's standpoint? We certianly need to stay focused, as well as productive? Do you have any ideas for the sales guys that are getting no where in phone sales?
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Carl
RE: Salespeople sitting idle?
If they are trying but getting no where, I suggest that you train them. The most common mistahke is that sales reps call and say too much. The customer doesn't need to come in if they know everything. Reps should be trained to call and whet the appetitie without telling all - kind of like the dance of the seven veils.
However, the only stores I know who get their staff to prospect regularly have 2 things in comon. One, they have regularly scheduled times when the rep must prospect and cannot take floor ups. Two, they make the rep agree to bring in a certain amount of business or "ups" as part of their employment contract.
If you are interested in more detailed information, our video album "Acres Of Diamonds" gives reps 16 ways to bring in business and sell.
However, the only stores I know who get their staff to prospect regularly have 2 things in comon. One, they have regularly scheduled times when the rep must prospect and cannot take floor ups. Two, they make the rep agree to bring in a certain amount of business or "ups" as part of their employment contract.
If you are interested in more detailed information, our video album "Acres Of Diamonds" gives reps 16 ways to bring in business and sell.
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Carl
RE: Salespeople sitting idle?
We are in the process of revising our web site. In a few weeks, it will give yopu more access to all my articles at no charge. Many of my articles deal with prospecting and you will find what you wan there, so feel free to check back.In the meantime, here is an article I wrote that brushes on prospedcting and Acres Of Diamonds. I hope yopu enjoy it.
WHAT NOW? A FOUR DAY WORK WEEK?
By: Carl Davidson
This article will introduce a fairly radical idea – the idea that 4 days worked on the floor by salespeople is better for them and for the dealership than allowing them to work 5 or 6 days on the floor. Now, before you reject the idea that less is more, take a good look at some of the reasons why some dealers are switching to this concept.
As I travel across the country, visiting dealers, many of the companies I see are understaffed. They barely have enough people to cover the floor every hour the company is open. But this situation gives the sales staff all the advantages. Think about it. Less staff means more “ups” per salesperson. It means you are so understaffed you cannot discipline or fire salespeople easily. Even if they don’t follow up, or try hard for the sales, they will probably make a living. However, the dealership might make more if every salesperson got a reasonable number of families to show homes to and had to close a significant number to make a living.
How many families should a salesperson get to show homes to? Our experience shows that on the average, a salesperson should get about 2 families per day to show homes to and should generate 1 family on their own for a total of 3 families per day. Having your sales staff generate one third of their own traffic should add 33% to the dealership’s sales without adding to the cost of operations. But why do so few salespeople generate traffic?
The first reason is that many companies don’t expect them to. To help your team generate traffic and sales, the first step is to set a standard that they must achieve and enforce it. We recommend that you set a goal of salespeople generating one third of the people they talk to. Once this goal is set, you have to monitor their activities and help those who are not achieving the agreed upon goal. The second reason is lack of available time.
You can’t expect your staff to generate traffic and work on the floor at the same time. Let’s say that you ask a salesperson to go out to a community and talk to people who own 6-year-old homes about trading in and moving up. The salesperson may want to perform this prospecting, but when there are customers walking into the dealership, naturally they talk with them instead of doing the prospecting. For this reason, we recommend that you consider scheduling your staff to work on the floor 4 days a week and work on prospecting 1 day per week away from the dealership.
This means that you will need more staff. Let’s take an example of a company that wants to be open 7 days per week, 8 hours per day with 2 salespeople on the floor at all times. Of course, Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days and so the store could use more people on at that time team during the week. With a 5 day week, the schedule might look like the table below:
Monday Tuesday Wed Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
On Duty BobMargret BobMargret FredBob BobFred FredMargret FredMargret Closed
Day Off Fred Fred Margret Margret Bob Bob
Prospecting
# of Customers 4 4 4 4 4 12 0
As you can see fm the chart, the company would like to be open 7 days per week, but is closed Sunday (the busiest day of the week) due to lack of staff. The company had 32 people come in to look at homes. These are the people the company generated through advertising and reputation. The staff did not generate any customers but talked with those that came into the store. The staff wishes customers were more plentiful, since each of them had about 10 “ups” for the week. The company was understaffed on Saturday and was not able to open Sunday. Also, notice that with this few number of salespeople, if anyone is sick, or quits the company is desperately understaffed and cannot cover the floor shift. This level of staffing also means that the salespeople are in control of the company. The owner cannot tell them to do things or replace them at will as he is too understaffed. If he fires one, he will be desperately short of salespeople. This situation is what makes many owners and managers accept performances and attitudes far below what they feel they should be achieving. However, although the owner wishes the company could do better, it is making some money and getting along.
If the company went to a 4 day floor rotation, the situation would be different. The company would only provide 2 “ups” per day per staff member and they would generate a third one by prospecting on their assigned prospecting day. The schedule might look like the next table:
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
On Duty BobFred FredJohn BobLou MargretLou MargretJohn MargretJohnLouBobFred MargretJohnLouBobFred
Prospecting Margret Bob Fred John Lou
Off LouJohn LouMargret JohnMargret FredBob BobFred
“Ups” From Company 4 4 4 4 4 12 12
“Ups” from prosecting 1 1 1 2 2 4 4
Notice that with this system, the company still generates the same 32 customers it did in the previous table from it’s advertising. However, by opening Sunday, it increases its traffic by 12 customers to 44 without spending any additional money on interest, advertising or overhead. Further, by sending the staff out to prospect, they generate about 1/3 of the traffic for an additional 15 “ups” without the company spending any more. In this way, the company has increased its traffic by 27 families per week or about 1400 families per year. At the national average closing rate of 7%, that should mean additional sales of about 98 homes per year. Also, notice that the extra staff means that the company is not so desperate if someone is sick or quits. The extra staff also means that each salesperson will work harder at getting the sale, since they know their next prospect may not be along as quickly as they were under the 5 day plan.
But what will the staff do to generate these leads? If they just use the prospecting day as a day off, the system will fail. For that reason, the owner or manager needs to supervise their activities and monitor their results to make sure they are successfully prospecting on the They will use their prospecting days to do the things they know they should do but never find the time to do like:
· Visit parks and communities to drum up business from people who currently own older homes
· Call & visit previous customers of the dealership to sell them and ask for referrals
· Call & visit neighbors of recent deliveries. Neighbors are curious about the home they see delivered and may want to keep up with their neighbors and purchase a new home
· Throw house warming parties and present homes to friends and relatives of customers
· Call referrals and service customers. Customers who need a lot of service may consider trading for a new home instead of putting a lot into repairs.
· Call people who are going to put up new homes (get lists from realtors and public records of vacant land sales, well permits etc.) Get them to look at your homes and see if they don’t agree they are a better value.
· Put on seminars for first time home buyers.
Every salesperson knows they should be doing these things, but very few have the time to get it done. Why? Because if you are scheduled to work the floor 5 or 6 days per week, there just is no time to do these things that will add 1/3 to their present sales levels. Sometimes are all so busy we don’t have time for things that will make us the most money. The only way to get these things done is to schedule a time that there will be no interruptions and the job can be completed.
Just changing the schedule won’t automatically bring in the extra sales. You will have to establish the fact that every salesperson is expected to generate one third of their own customers. You will have to implement a system that keeps track of how many customers are being presented and where they come from. Some of our clients have just made a simple system. They require salespeople to prove they are presenting homes to 15 families per week to keep their job. These dealers get their salespeople to hand in the name address and phone number of every person they show homes to and then have a member of management call the customers to find out why they didn’t buy. This makes sure the salespeople are doing a good job and also adds to sales, because most managers report great success at getting many of these customers to come back in and buy a home.
Realize that salespeople on this program will need help in spending their day profitably. Make lists of activities that they should be doing on their prospecting days. Follow up to establish how much business they actually generated and be prepared to go with them for the first few times to make sure they are successful at generating leads with the time they invest.
Once everyone realizes that this system is in the best interests of the company as well as the salesperson, they will get used to bringing in extra customers instead of waiting for customers to come in. This system provides more variety and flexibility to their work-week. Best of all, it provides more customers and sales without adding a lot of extra expenses to the company.
Consider it and see if it is right for you. It is a bit of a radical idea, but it will solve the complaint we hear from most dealers around the country that their salespeople don’t bring in enough business. Remember the works of Robert Kennedy who said “Some men see things as they are and ask ‘Why?’ I see things as they could be and ask ‘Why not?’”
WHAT NOW? A FOUR DAY WORK WEEK?
By: Carl Davidson
This article will introduce a fairly radical idea – the idea that 4 days worked on the floor by salespeople is better for them and for the dealership than allowing them to work 5 or 6 days on the floor. Now, before you reject the idea that less is more, take a good look at some of the reasons why some dealers are switching to this concept.
As I travel across the country, visiting dealers, many of the companies I see are understaffed. They barely have enough people to cover the floor every hour the company is open. But this situation gives the sales staff all the advantages. Think about it. Less staff means more “ups” per salesperson. It means you are so understaffed you cannot discipline or fire salespeople easily. Even if they don’t follow up, or try hard for the sales, they will probably make a living. However, the dealership might make more if every salesperson got a reasonable number of families to show homes to and had to close a significant number to make a living.
How many families should a salesperson get to show homes to? Our experience shows that on the average, a salesperson should get about 2 families per day to show homes to and should generate 1 family on their own for a total of 3 families per day. Having your sales staff generate one third of their own traffic should add 33% to the dealership’s sales without adding to the cost of operations. But why do so few salespeople generate traffic?
The first reason is that many companies don’t expect them to. To help your team generate traffic and sales, the first step is to set a standard that they must achieve and enforce it. We recommend that you set a goal of salespeople generating one third of the people they talk to. Once this goal is set, you have to monitor their activities and help those who are not achieving the agreed upon goal. The second reason is lack of available time.
You can’t expect your staff to generate traffic and work on the floor at the same time. Let’s say that you ask a salesperson to go out to a community and talk to people who own 6-year-old homes about trading in and moving up. The salesperson may want to perform this prospecting, but when there are customers walking into the dealership, naturally they talk with them instead of doing the prospecting. For this reason, we recommend that you consider scheduling your staff to work on the floor 4 days a week and work on prospecting 1 day per week away from the dealership.
This means that you will need more staff. Let’s take an example of a company that wants to be open 7 days per week, 8 hours per day with 2 salespeople on the floor at all times. Of course, Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days and so the store could use more people on at that time team during the week. With a 5 day week, the schedule might look like the table below:
Monday Tuesday Wed Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
On Duty BobMargret BobMargret FredBob BobFred FredMargret FredMargret Closed
Day Off Fred Fred Margret Margret Bob Bob
Prospecting
# of Customers 4 4 4 4 4 12 0
As you can see fm the chart, the company would like to be open 7 days per week, but is closed Sunday (the busiest day of the week) due to lack of staff. The company had 32 people come in to look at homes. These are the people the company generated through advertising and reputation. The staff did not generate any customers but talked with those that came into the store. The staff wishes customers were more plentiful, since each of them had about 10 “ups” for the week. The company was understaffed on Saturday and was not able to open Sunday. Also, notice that with this few number of salespeople, if anyone is sick, or quits the company is desperately understaffed and cannot cover the floor shift. This level of staffing also means that the salespeople are in control of the company. The owner cannot tell them to do things or replace them at will as he is too understaffed. If he fires one, he will be desperately short of salespeople. This situation is what makes many owners and managers accept performances and attitudes far below what they feel they should be achieving. However, although the owner wishes the company could do better, it is making some money and getting along.
If the company went to a 4 day floor rotation, the situation would be different. The company would only provide 2 “ups” per day per staff member and they would generate a third one by prospecting on their assigned prospecting day. The schedule might look like the next table:
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
On Duty BobFred FredJohn BobLou MargretLou MargretJohn MargretJohnLouBobFred MargretJohnLouBobFred
Prospecting Margret Bob Fred John Lou
Off LouJohn LouMargret JohnMargret FredBob BobFred
“Ups” From Company 4 4 4 4 4 12 12
“Ups” from prosecting 1 1 1 2 2 4 4
Notice that with this system, the company still generates the same 32 customers it did in the previous table from it’s advertising. However, by opening Sunday, it increases its traffic by 12 customers to 44 without spending any additional money on interest, advertising or overhead. Further, by sending the staff out to prospect, they generate about 1/3 of the traffic for an additional 15 “ups” without the company spending any more. In this way, the company has increased its traffic by 27 families per week or about 1400 families per year. At the national average closing rate of 7%, that should mean additional sales of about 98 homes per year. Also, notice that the extra staff means that the company is not so desperate if someone is sick or quits. The extra staff also means that each salesperson will work harder at getting the sale, since they know their next prospect may not be along as quickly as they were under the 5 day plan.
But what will the staff do to generate these leads? If they just use the prospecting day as a day off, the system will fail. For that reason, the owner or manager needs to supervise their activities and monitor their results to make sure they are successfully prospecting on the They will use their prospecting days to do the things they know they should do but never find the time to do like:
· Visit parks and communities to drum up business from people who currently own older homes
· Call & visit previous customers of the dealership to sell them and ask for referrals
· Call & visit neighbors of recent deliveries. Neighbors are curious about the home they see delivered and may want to keep up with their neighbors and purchase a new home
· Throw house warming parties and present homes to friends and relatives of customers
· Call referrals and service customers. Customers who need a lot of service may consider trading for a new home instead of putting a lot into repairs.
· Call people who are going to put up new homes (get lists from realtors and public records of vacant land sales, well permits etc.) Get them to look at your homes and see if they don’t agree they are a better value.
· Put on seminars for first time home buyers.
Every salesperson knows they should be doing these things, but very few have the time to get it done. Why? Because if you are scheduled to work the floor 5 or 6 days per week, there just is no time to do these things that will add 1/3 to their present sales levels. Sometimes are all so busy we don’t have time for things that will make us the most money. The only way to get these things done is to schedule a time that there will be no interruptions and the job can be completed.
Just changing the schedule won’t automatically bring in the extra sales. You will have to establish the fact that every salesperson is expected to generate one third of their own customers. You will have to implement a system that keeps track of how many customers are being presented and where they come from. Some of our clients have just made a simple system. They require salespeople to prove they are presenting homes to 15 families per week to keep their job. These dealers get their salespeople to hand in the name address and phone number of every person they show homes to and then have a member of management call the customers to find out why they didn’t buy. This makes sure the salespeople are doing a good job and also adds to sales, because most managers report great success at getting many of these customers to come back in and buy a home.
Realize that salespeople on this program will need help in spending their day profitably. Make lists of activities that they should be doing on their prospecting days. Follow up to establish how much business they actually generated and be prepared to go with them for the first few times to make sure they are successful at generating leads with the time they invest.
Once everyone realizes that this system is in the best interests of the company as well as the salesperson, they will get used to bringing in extra customers instead of waiting for customers to come in. This system provides more variety and flexibility to their work-week. Best of all, it provides more customers and sales without adding a lot of extra expenses to the company.
Consider it and see if it is right for you. It is a bit of a radical idea, but it will solve the complaint we hear from most dealers around the country that their salespeople don’t bring in enough business. Remember the works of Robert Kennedy who said “Some men see things as they are and ask ‘Why?’ I see things as they could be and ask ‘Why not?’”
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Becca
RE: Salespeople sitting idle?
Carl,
This is a great plan. Have you ever heard of a company that actually put stock models of a cd rom, it is a marketing tool and they have floorplans, models, virtual reality tours and the whole bit on this cd. It even has a mortgage calculator on it to calculate payments. They are a sales tool for salepeople to give to prspective home buyers.
This is a great plan. Have you ever heard of a company that actually put stock models of a cd rom, it is a marketing tool and they have floorplans, models, virtual reality tours and the whole bit on this cd. It even has a mortgage calculator on it to calculate payments. They are a sales tool for salepeople to give to prspective home buyers.
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Tom
RE: Salespeople sitting idle?
This is all fine, but I can never get my guys to do any prospecting. How can I get them to do it?
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Carl
RE: Salespeople sitting idle?
I understand and it is a challenge. Most of our clients say commission isn't enough. To get them to prospect, you have to set a minimum number of families they have to show homes to each week and enforce that number. Let's say your team averages 10 "ups" per week each. If you set a minimum of showing homes and reporting on 15 families per week, they would have to "dig up" 5 showings on their own. This is the pressure that makes things happen. Try it.
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Becky
RE: Salespeople sitting idle?
You talk about prospecting? While working for my father, We had a great sales and marketing tool that I used. It was the Interactive Home CD rom. We were able to sell homes directly from the cd. I sold 4 homes in one month. We did not even have the models that I sold, in stock. I sold them directly from the CD. We ordered, sold, and saved several thousand dollars by doing this. We saved because we did not have to stock the models that were higher end, we did not have to pay intrest on stock and we were able to sell upgrade directly from the cd, we earned full rebate and meet our turns easier.. The sales team loved them and we were able to train our new salespeople directly with the CD. When you mentioned having trouble getting your sales people to get prospects it reminded me of the time 2 of our sales people had a booth at the county fair, the handed out the CD's and actually had fun, they had a coupon inside the jewel case and everyone of the leads that came into the sales center and purchased received a free upgrade up to a certian $ amount. The increased traffic and people would come in with the cd and not the paper floorplans that you normally see. It was probably one of the greatest sales tools that I ever used and I found the salespeople trading ideas. For instance one gal left a cd in the laundry mat with her business card in it. She sold a home from that lead. How do I know that sale came from that cd? Because I was the gal that left it in the laundry mat and I marked the cd. I said all this to say that because I had a great sales rep that took time to teach about my product and was intrested in our success, he introduced the cd. Can you imagine having a rep that would take the time to train your sales team how to sell your product. I can even give you names if you need them. I have never met another sales rep like him in the industry.
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Scott
RE: Salespeople sitting idle?
Since there has been a down turn in the manufactured housing industry, How does a sales person improve on the selling of homes to the independant dealers?
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Darrel Hoover
RE: Salespeople sitting idle?
Scott
A short note from a dealer of 23 years.
When your factory rep is just a voice(not a face) it is easier to say no.
Personal contact in the industry is missing.
A short note from a dealer of 23 years.
When your factory rep is just a voice(not a face) it is easier to say no.
Personal contact in the industry is missing.
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